Apple has settled privately with the guy who says he thought of AirPods first before they were invented. The declaration was made just as jury selection was set to begin.
Seung Jin Kim and Pinn Inc. sued Apple over patent infringement that they claim occurred when the original AirPods were released six years ago. Law360 writes that the plaintiff was suing over patents related to his own idea for a wireless earbud technology.
Connor told jurors that Kim came up with an idea nearly eight years ago that solve problems plaguing older models of the large, clunky Bluetooth headset products, and invented a reimagined, rearchitected, hands-free wireless earbud technology that was smaller and lighter, had a longer-lasting battery and designed to fit more comfortably in the human ear.
Kim conceived the idea of a “smart case,” or mobile base station, that he sketched with a pencil in January 2015. That version of the mobile base station in Kim’s sketches came with a speaker, LCD screen and a clip to attach to the lapel of a shirt, so the owner couldn’t lose it, testimony revealed.
Furthermore, Kim wanted 60 cents in royalty fees for every set of AirPods sold by Apple, or a total of $42 million in damages at the time. While Kim indeed did hold two patents for wireless earbud technology, Apple argued that its work on AirPods dated back a decade before the product launch.
In August, the patent case was ruled a mistrial after one juror was found to have conducted outside research about the case and another juror “mocked up a demonstrative exhibit for deliberations.”
The jury selection process was only beginning to start today when the court was notified that Apple and Kim had settled. Read that to mean that Apple payed the guy enough to go away.
Apple has faced legal trouble for AirPods before from Jawbone and Koss, a trial that was also settled privately. Shortly after buying Beats, Apple was also sued by Bose for headphone technology before settling. Subscribers can read the full Law360 article here.
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